“There was an entrance shotgun wound to the face, with no evidence of close-range discharge of a firearm noted on the skin surrounding this wound. The wound tract passes through the soft tissue and bones of the face and entered the brain. Associated with this injury were skull fractures and bleeding around the brain. The would track was from front to back and right to left. Multiple lead pellets and fragments or wad were recovered from the brain and retained.”

There are no reports on how many times the shooter fired the gun.

Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County prosecutor’s office, told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that the prosecutor’s office is waiting for several items relating to the investigation from the Dearborn Heights Police Department. The Prosecutor’s office has begun the warrant review process.

Renisha’s funeral was this past Friday. It was a closed casket funeral. Her mother, Monica McBride took a moment to face news reporters after her daughter’s funeral Friday, but she couldn’t speak.

Renisha McBride’s Ford Taurus

ABC Action 7 News out of Detroit reports recent discoveries in the investigation. Renisha had an accident in her Ford Taurus, six blocks away from where she was shot and killed. The front end of her car had severe damage. Investigators do not know what happened in the two hours from the time of the accident and the time that Renisha was shot and killed, but they are working on getting her phone records to see who she called. At least one person has reported receiving a phone call from Renisha after the accident, and Renisha told that person that her face was bleeding, and she wanted to go home.

Toxicology reports have not been completed, but a preliminary blood test reveals that alcohol was in Renisha’s blood. Investigators have Renisha’s vehicle, and State police are taking more photos.

My god this is becoming far too common an occurrence. This has so many parallels with the case of Jonathan Ferrell only this time it was a “homeowner” instead of a police officer. It is a terrible tragedy that these survivors of car crashes can not even seek help from ppl nearby without being shot !

You know m1, it’s 2013, and I would prefer to think that no American now living thinks or lives like it’s 1865 in terms of race and race relations. I struggle to be objective, but you continue taking those blinders off by giving facts.

The other night I watched a movie about Andrew Shepherd. It tore my heart apart. It wasn’t about race, but it showed the mindset of those who hate just to be hateful — to make themselves look more righteous, or more superior. It also bothers me that some hate in the name of their god.

Reblogged this on United States Hypocrisy and commented:
Here we are again. While Marissa Alexander in Florida and George McNeil in Georgia are serving decades-long prison sentences simply because they dared to defend themselves from their crazed attackers, white homeowners seem to have been murdering car-crash survivors in need of help with complete impunity. Just a few weeks ago, we reported on the tragic case of Jonathon Terrell, and now a 19-year old named Renisha McBride has been shot dead in Detroit, Michigan.

Caleb……First it was John McNeil in Georgia who defended himself from an out of control contractor. He is also now free after accepting a 6 yr sentence plea deal, but at a great cost since his wife died while he was in prison. This was a miscarriage of justice where the cops did not want to charge him but a prosecutor went after him. There were also witnesses to back John’s story.

Next Marissa Alexander is a poor choice to use. She was not defending herself from an out of control attacker and had left the home and returned with a gun. She also had a order of protection against her ex but went to his home anyway. She did not fire a warning shot into the ceiling, as she claimed, but fired at his head while his two sons were standing by him. She was sentenced to the long term due to the 10-20-Life laws here in Florida and lost in her SYG claim–she did not qualify for the SYG law and this was held up in her appeal. She is getting a new trial due to improper jury instructions. She also turned down a 3 yr plea deal from the state and took her chances with the jury. Her long sentence was due to the law and the judge’s hands were tied at the sentencing.

And how does this change the fact that this an indictment of the entire system? At the end of the day George Zimmerman is walking free after following an unarmed teenager and shooting him – obviously not a case of “self-defense” – whereas Marissa Alexander has a far more legitimate case to make for self-defense yet she is thrown into to prison for decades. The “plea-deal” is a sham and a way to get ppl to admit to guilt even when they are not guilty.

And the John McNeil case is a genuine case of self-defense but this is what happens when Black ppl practice their “second amendment rights” that white conservatives spend all day preaching about. Race plays a definitive role in every step of the criminal justice system.

I agree that what happened to John McNeil was a travesty, I agree that Zimmerman should have at least been convicted of manslaughter. But I do not agree with you on Alexander’s case.

You have to research through several sites the full story about her. Yes, her husband had a history of domestic abuse but Ms. Alexander was also abusive and she had a temper. She had a year long restraining order against her husband, during that time she conceived and had a child with him. They got into an argument about texts to an ex of hers and accusations of who the real father of the baby was and there was shoving. Now then she bypassed two exits of the home and went into the garage (3rd exit). She told LE that the garage door was broken and she could not get out but when checked the door worked just fine. She retrieved a handgun from her car and returned back to the inside of the home. She claimed she fired a warning shot into the ceiling, she did not, the path of the bullet was at head level where her husband and 2 children were standing and the path can be traced as it went through the walls.

Her husband left his home with his children and called the police and she locked herself inside the home…..she never called 911. Her story did not match the evidence. Her husband changed his story from the 911 call to try and protect her but changed back to the original version for the trial. His eldest son also testified at the trial.

When she was out on bail she violated the terms set by bail (she was to have no contact with her husband) and again went to the home. She then assaulted her husband leaving him with a black eye. He, once again, was the one to call 911 and she never did and left the scene. When the police caught up to her they noticed no injuries on her and place her in handcuffs and into a car. Shortly afterwards she complained of her head hurting and a cut was seen on her head and she was transported to the hospital. It was suggested that she caused her own injury after being put into the police car to frame her husband. Because of the history of domestic violence, the prosecutor wanted to cut her a break and offered her 3 yrs and a lesser charge but Alexander took her chances on SYG and the jury. She lost on the SYG hearing and turned down her plea deal.

Because she bypassed 2 first exits to leave the home and went out a 3rd door and retrieved a gun and went back to confront her ex, this is why she lost out on SYG. She was out of any danger but went back to continue the confrontation only this time with a gun. That is not standing your ground.

If anything, Florida’s 10-20-Life law is what needs to be changed. Show a gun and you get 10 yrs, fire a gun and you get 20, kill someone and you get Life. These are firm sentences with no wiggle room or discretion left to the judge.

TF! Living here in Jacksonville Florida where Marissa and her husband live, we have the same account of her story that you posted here. My personal feelings are that like Zimmerman, Alexander will re-offend. It would not surprise me if she re-offended while awaiting re-trial, if she gets bond…

Having said that, judges do use discretion when applying the 10/20/life rule. I see that all the time. It is not applied without prejudice.

Mindyme: I live in the Central Florida area and it amazes me how the press can at times leave out some crucial facts. When she got the sentencing it seems like most of the headlines that went national were only of her getting 20 yrs after claiming SYG and most leaving out the details of the case including that she did not fall into SYG. As a result some will hail her as an example of injustice when it didn’t have anything to do with her race or sex. I hope that Ms. Alexander gets some form of counseling to help her with her issues—domestic violence history and her own temper.

You have to research the 10-20-Life law, it is a mandatory minimum sentencing when it involves a forcible felony. If the charge falls into that category then the judge’s hands are tied. This is what Ms. Alexander fell into to. There have been a few other cases where people got caught up in this law. One of the most recent was Michael Giles, this should be used as an example instead of Ms. Alexander. Mr. Giles was an Air Force airman stationed in Tampa when he went to a party with some friends in Tallahassee. A patron became angry and was determined to attack the first person who came out of the establishment. Mr. Giles was the unlucky one. A fight started and Mr. Giles, who has a concealed, pulled out a gun fire a warning shot to free himself from the now large brawl. A couple of people were shot but not by Mr. Giles (proven by forensics). Even the man who started it all, admitted on the stand that Mr. Giles did nothing wrong. He also was sentenced to 20 yrs. For some reason, his lawyer kept telling Mr. Giles and his family that they would be seeking a SYG hearing but on the day of the trial he did not.

The 10-20-Life law went into effect in 1999, it was a form of gun control in Florida. The year before there were over 30,000 felonies that involved a gun and at the time you would only get a mandatory 3 yr sentence if you used a gun during the commission of a felony. If a judge used discretion in a sentencing then it has to do with the charge but if the charge falls under a forcible felony then they cannot use discretion in sentencing.

If everything you said is correct then i would agree that Mellisa’s case was not a SYG, if only because there was a restraining order and she wasn’t in a place lawfully.

But Chicken george zimmerman had ZERO right to the SYG or ANY Self Defense defense! Even by the ordinary statues of self defense zimmerman FAILED to ever attempt ANY of the other reasonable means to extract himself or protect his fat ass from the attack HE himself perpetrated on this innocent kid! Zimmerman was only allowed to use *up to* deadly force, not ONLY deadly force! he was supposed to use equal force 1st, but he NEVER even said he tried to use any force besides deadly force!
this is all he ever had a right to. the syg instructions were simply NOT applicable to him and i can’t believe any of this!

and he should’ve been charged with kidnapping too!

and he IS guilty of Murder 2 because manslaughter would mean he didn’t mean to kill Trayvon Martin when he shot him point blank in the heart! and we know that moron went shooting with his boyfriend osterman on their monthly dates so he knew exactly what he was doing! in fact he even said he AIMED carefully not to shoot his own stupid hand! so manslaughter is bullshit in this case! zimmerman knew perfectly well he was going kill that child as soon as he AIMED at his heart!

Actually he should’ve been charged with Murder 1 if we get technical but Trayvon’s life wasn’t worth all the hassle to the ppl who run the legal system here, because he wasn’t one of their kids!

MI:
First for those who aren’t familiar with the case. Ralph Wald is a 70 yr old retired Army Officer and also a lawyer, he had never been arrested. He was married to Johnna Flores–his 5th wife–for only 5 months. Johnna had been involved with Walter Conley before, in fact right before she became involved with Wald. Both Conley and Flores have arrest records, Conley for minor issues and Flores for firing a gun at Flores when he refused to leave her house after staying there for 2 weeks, Wald bailed her out.

Mr. Wald woke up around midnight and went to go to the kitchen for a glass of water and discovered his wife and Conley having sex on the living room floor. He then went back to his room and retrieved a gun and shot and killed Mr Conley, his wife was not injured. Wald was arrested and went to trial for 2nd degree murder.

He claimed, under SYG, that he thought his wife was being raped and that Conley was an intruder in his home. He told 911 that he shot Conley after he found the pair “fornicating” in the house. Flores stated she suffered from a drinking blackout and has no memory of the night.

The trial focused on SYG, which in Florida, one can use in defense of another when a forcible felony is being committed, which includes rape, and also what his state of mind was that night. The prosecution did not believe the story due to his telling 911 that they were “fornicating” and not that she was being raped.

Now MI, I have heard of the case but did not follow it in the news so I don’t know all of the fine points of the trial. But as with Zimmerman, it was a jury that found him not guilty. I have found no story of any jurors speaking out. But the final question they had to decide was it a case of he thought a man was raping his wife or was he a jealous husband who in a fit of anger, killed his wife’s lover. But not knowing as much about this case I never really formed an opinion on it. Because of the history between Flores and Conley and her husband inability to have sex–she stated once they had the perfect marriage, that she didn’t want sex and he couldn’t have sex–I think his wife was a willing participant. I found one story about his 4th wife in which she had nothing negative to say and never saw a side of him that would lead someone to believe he would murder in a fit of jealousy. So how does one get into the mind of someone like Wald? With Zimmerman we had plenty of references to his past behavior, actions, and proven lies, which is we attack his credibility.

But you want me to explain something that I cannot. We know what happened with the Zimmerman jury but, like I said, we know nothing about the Wald jury and how they reached their decision.

From Xena’s article above we learn that the ME said that there was NO evidence of CLOSE-RANGE discharge of a firearm based upon the skin surrounding the wound.

I would like to know just what the range of discharge was. How far away would a shooter have to be to cause a 3 1/2″ by 2″ wound as noted in the ME report here?

Penetrating Shotgun Wound to the Head:

There was a 3 1/2 inch by 2 inch irregular entrance shotgun wound on the face, centered 6 inches below the top of the midline. There was no soot or gunpowder stippling noted on the skin surrounding this wound. The wound track proceeded from this injury through the nasal cartilage and soft tissue of the face and tongue; maxilla, ethmoid, frontal, nasal, and left orbital bones (fractures); dura mater; and frontal, bi-parietal, and occipital lobes of the brain.

Associated with this injury were subarachnoid and subdural hemorrhages and fractures to the sphenoid, occipital, temporal, and left orbital bones.

The wound track was from front to back and right to left when the body is viewed in the anatomical position.

Multiple lead pellets and fragments of wad were recovered from the brain and retained.

So far I have found this article showing the effects of various types of shotguns and various types of pellets:

Too many unknowns, first what was the size of the shotgun? 12 or 20 gauge. The smaller the shotgun number the bigger the shells/gun. Then there is the type of chokes on the shotgun. There are 3 types of chokes and they affect the shot pattern coming out, a modified choke will keep the shot pattern in a tighter group and it takes it longer to spread out.

Then there is the shotgun shell itself. The shot (pellets) inside come in different sizes. With the shot size the small the number the larger the pellet. The size also effects how many pellets go into a shell.

Yes, it will spread out the pellets at a longer distance so you will have fewer pellets that hit the target. Shotguns are typically shot at clay pigeons for trap or skeet for sport and it doesn’t take many to break a pigeon. They are also typically used in hunting for birds, although they can be used for other, and once again it doesn’t take many pellets to bring down your prey but with the spread it increases your chance of hitting your prey at a distance.

Shotguns are becoming more popular in self defense with more and more tactical types coming on the market. One pellet could have ended her life if it hit her in the right place.

The wad mentioned in the autopsy report is a plastic plug that separates the pellets from the gun powder and it is ejected with the pellets. It will also travel for a distance before it falls to the ground.

First you need to find out more on the shotgun involved. What was the gauge? Then you need to know if there was a choke on the shotgun. A choke is attached to the front of the barrel (it screws in) and it effects the pattern of the pellets coming out. No choke on the shotgun and it will immediately start to spread out the pellets. Then you have “improved”, “modified” and a “full choke”. Then you need to know the shot that is inside the shell involved. But a full choke on a barrel will keep the shot pattern in a tighter group for a longer distance.

IdealisticRebel. Thanks for the support and you are so correct — “people should be able to look for help without tasking their lives.” Well, there was a time too when kids could run from strange, creepy looking adults and not be followed and killed and blamed for their own murder.

Again, we mourn the death of a young black person killed, seemingly, for doing nothing more than being black. This time, her name is Renisha McBride.

Like Jonathan Ferrell before her, Renisha, a 19 year-old Detroit native, got into a car accident in Dearborn Heights, and sought help at a nearby house. The still unidentified homeowner answered the door armed with his shotgun, presuming Renisha was a burglar. Alternately being described as “accidental” and “justified,” he shot Renisha in the face.

As with Trayvon Martin’s death before that, Renisha’s killer has not been arrested. And due to similar Stand Your Ground laws in Michigan as in Florida, it’s possible that he may never be charged with any crime. Another black teenager has been killed, and again, their family may have to go forward without anyone being held accountable.

We have been here before. Our history becomes our present so often it becomes difficult to distinguish the two. Politicians and cable news hosts and the naïvely colorblind ask us to forget, most of the country obliges, and black people, again, are left to piece together the fragments of history, suffering, rage, and pain so that we may have hope for something better.

Again we advocate for justice. Again we question what justice would even look like. Again we demand that black life be valued. Again we wonder why it never was in the first place. Again we weep, we pray, we march, we raise our voices. Again we prepare ourselves to be let down. And again we ask when will the moment come where we won’t have to go through this again.

Our nation is being ruled by incomprehensible fear. I know that not all, but some gun owners have the desire within them to take a life. Whether that life be an animal or a human. I will always believe this. And it’s sick. Where did this come from? This willingness to take another life, while wanting so desperately to believe that their lives are somehow more valuable.

That, and de-sensitalization, like the oppression during Jim Crow when people are to accept wrongs as “that’s the way things go. Nothing we can do about it.”

Notice that the more that the public is presented with circumstances and cases and voice out, the more SOME people blame the media and project theories that in essence, argue that knowledge and pursuing justice has an underlying ‘take-over’ or financial agenda?

Although published in 1948, the following piece written by Welborn Victor Jenkins, still needs to be heard today:

Yet, I weep, O I weep, for those who will not return;
I weep of a poignant sorrow;
And with ceaseless tears that are unashamed,
I weep.

I sing a Song of Sadness for the Children who had to Die–
Were snatched so soon and suddenly from the bright arena of young life;
I offer a prayer for them, and for the neglected ones who bore them–
A prayer for the plight of my people in this unfriendly land.
With aching hearts and burdened backs and blistering feet that bleed and burn,
Have traveled a thorny pathway
And waded deep rivers
By the light of a simple, unquestioning Faith.

Hard to listen to ending……..I realize that Renisha’s identity was unknown and that the dispatcher had to follow standard message protocol, but just to hear a person’s life and being reduced at the end of the called by the dispatcher with “Copy…Black female” is heartbreaking.

There is also inconsistent info coming out. One is that the battery on Renisha’s cell phone ran out of power. Inconsistent with that is that her cell phone has not been located. That’s odd, isn’t it? The first cannot be true if the second is true unless she spoke with someone and told them her cell phone was running out or had ran out of power. Investigators have said that they are getting Renisha’s cell phone records.

If the times are true, then the homeowner did not call 911 until an hour after he killed Renisha. And, some people want to know what Renisha was doing for 2 hours or longer after crashing her car? I’d like to know what the homeowner was doing for an hour after he killed Renisha.

At 12:57am the first calls about a car accident in which a woman is seen crashing her car into a parked vehicle and then fleeing the scene on foot.

At 1:40am, police and EMS on the scene of the car accident and after a short search they cannot find the driver. Car has severe front end damage.

2:50 am, cops are still on the scene writing reports and preparing to tow the car.

4:46 am, 911 call about shooting.

Within 2 minutes after initial dispatch, rescue 10 is on scene.

I could find nothing that shows the shooting happened 65 minutes before the call. But what is missing is what Ms. McBride was doing during that timeframe of the accident and the shooting. It has been suggested that she suffered a concussion and might have wandered the area before seeking help.

The shooting happened at a home in the 16800 block of Outer Drive near Warren, and the homeowner contacted police around 4:45 a.m. Police say the person shot on the porch was 19-year-old Renisha McBride.

Thanks Xena, The second one was the one I got the timeline from. But I’m wondering if the first one might have been a mistake on what time the call came in. But I cannot find one story that says the shooter waited 65 mins to call 911. Even in the video of the first one they don’t mention that, only that they know she was shot and is dead and the man had the gun in her face and the finger on the trigger. That would have raised numerous comments and stories from those involved. You have to admit if a family member knew that 65 mins went by from shooting to call they would have been all over that, I know I would have.

So because of that I’m inclined to see the first story as a misprint of the time.

@towerflower. Because there is an investigation and the shooter has not been arrested, the police are only releasing so much information. They would have a definite time for when the shooter called 911. My thoughts on the time that Renisha was shot is that maybe the cops are going by another call of someone hearing shots fired, or determination of the coroner. They have not said how they determined the time she was shot, although they stated that time to the media.

The family is represented by an attorney who has stated to the media that he is giving investigators time to complete their investigation. With so many people who demonize those in the grave, I can appreciate the family’s silence because things they have already said, and information from the cops already released, has been twisted to demean Renisha and her family.

@Yahtzee. I don’t know. Since the media released the time of death, it had to come from the spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office. Maybe the spokesperson didn’t say who determined it and that is why the media, in all sources (reputable and otherwise) did not include who determined the time of death. Just my guess.

Yes, the ME can to a reasonable time. They can do a liver temp reading which they know how quickly a body will cool after death. Also if rigamortis had started to set in it would have raised some red flags.

“Police on Friday released the 911 call from Wafer moments after the shooting.” It appears that the 65 min controversy is nothing more than mistake on the time by one news agency. I’m sure the cops, during their interview, would have mentioned if the homeowner waited 65 mins before making his call instead they said he called within moments.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy will hold a press conference tomorrow at 11 a.m. to announce a decision on whether to charge a homeowner who shot and killed 19-year-old Renisha McBride at his Dearborn Heights doorstep last week.

DETROIT, MI — Renisha McBride, the 19-year-old fatally shot by a Dearborn Heights man on Nov. 2 hours after crashing into a parked car in Detroit, had a blood-alcohol level of .218 and marijuana in her system, Wayne County Medical Examiner spokeswoman Mary Mazur confirms, based on McBride’s toxicology report.

That is just under three times the legal blood-alcohol limit, .08, for driving in Michigan.

Well you can guess what’s being said now, and what’s going to said tomorrow at the press conference. Was the shooter tested? No, not from what I have read. My guess is if he’s charged, and that’s if, it will probably be something minor.

That is just under three times the legal blood-alcohol limit, .08, for driving in Michigan.

If under, then Renisha was not driving drunk.

Even if she was inebriated, that does not justify the homeowner shooting her in the face.

The shooter should have been tested for drugs and alcohol because he used a gun, but personally, I would not be one to push that argument because he was home and did not kill Renisha in a public place.

Confusing sentence, it was just under 3x times……meaning 2.999 x over the legal limit or what ever the percentage would be, but she was drunk. Like they said still no excuse to kill her.

I wonder if the homeowner even bothered to look out a peep hole or window first, turn on a light, anything to notice it was a young woman who appeared to be injured–since they say she was bloodied from the accident—or did he just open the door?

I think it should be a state law everywhere for everyone to be tested if they fire a gun, injury or death. They test drivers to see if they are impaired so why not gun owners who fire their guns.

One thing I would like to see her parents or LE do, when they can, is to find out who supplied an underage woman with alcohol, to me they should also be held responsible for contributing to her death–not as much as the shooter but they should also bear some responsibility.

I just listened to a video of the news conference. First they kept trying to bait the prosecutor into comparing it to the Zimmerman case right down to if she was wearing a hoodie…..smh. Then I found it interesting that they said the shot was from inside the home (shotguns have longer barrels than a pistol) through an open door but also through a closed and locked screen door. He opened one door and not the other.

They also would not say if they knew what she was doing from the time of her accident to the shooting but would only say the facts will come out in trial.

Huffington Post reports that Theodore Wafer faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for the second-degree murder charge. Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. The additional felony firearm charge carries an additional mandatory penalty of two years; Michigan law imposes the two-year sentence when a person is in possession of a firearm while committing or attempting to commit a felony.

It took 2 weeks but charges were filed. 2ND degree murder ,manslaughter and firearm violations. Hopefully Wafer will be convicted of all charges. Remember black NJ detective Joseph Walker immediately was arrested charged with the same charges and given 1,000,000 bail for shooting and killing white Joseph Harvey .Not 2 weeks, the same day.

It takes awhile to consume that there may be a white that is just not right. There’s got to be a good excuse for a white man gone bad. There’s nothing to consider when a black man is accused of a crime, they’re all criminals.

@dreamer. That’s because they are White Supremacists. Of course, they allege that anyone who disagrees with White Supremacist ideology is Black and a racist. That’s because White Supremacists cannot accept that not all Whites believe in or agree with White Supremacist ideology.